The Color Red
by Mixzzy
Summary: I've added a small update about finally finishing this.
1. Prolouge

The Color Red  
**_Chapter One_**

"Get. Up." The red-eyed tallest said in a menacing, stern tone at the cowering shadow on the floor.

"Red, I-I can't… I think you've broken my ribs, I can't brea-"

"I said: Get. Up." he hissed.

"Red, really… I don't think I can…" The purple one forced a whisper through clenched teeth. It was obvious someone had handled him with a vigor his thin, frail body couldn't handle. He was wearing something that had once resembled a pair of shorts. They were ripped in places, missing pieces. He was pushed up against the wall, lying on his side in the dimly lit hallway. All he could do was look at the other side of the hallway, barley registering Red's feet hovering inches off the ground in front of him. He tried to look up, all he could see were two ruby eyes, lit with anger. He couldn't keep the gaze; he was forced to look away.

"Pur, I won't say it again… Get. Up."

Purple tried to lift himself up onto two bruised arms, but just the small movement of getting his arms under himself hurt. He cried out in pain, his thin sobs echoing down the hall. He always secretly hoped someone would hear, but the hope was impractical. He was deep within his own ship, in a hallway no one probably even knew existed.

"Fine! Fine. You won't do as I say even when I ask nicely, I'll just have to MAKE you do it," Red bent down to grab Purple's arm, but Purple involuntarily twitched away from Red's vice grip. He knew the moment he felt it that was the wrong thing to do. Red raised an eyebrow before standing back up. He gave an irritated sigh.

"Pur, honestly. You make no sense. You won't move when I ask you nicely, but you will when I'm being nice enough to help? I was trying to help you up, since I know you're hurt. But I can see now that you don't care if I was trying to be nice, you only care about you. Well, Pur, that's going to change. You'll only have the strength and willpower to care about what _I'm_ doing by the time I'm done with you, do you know that?" he gave his slight speech in a quiet, frightening tone. All Purple could do was lie on the ground, crying softly to himself, coughing or sniffing occasionally. Red gave another irritated sigh, and bent down once more.

Leaning in next to Purple's face, he asked, "Are you going to get up, or not?"

Purple didn't answer.

"Okay, that's it. I've had enough," Red forcefully grabbed Purple's arm. He cried out in protest. Red dragged the purple Tallest to his feet, where he fell against the wall, trying to keep himself from falling over. He could have sworn he had a twisted ankle. He could hardly stand to put any weight on his left leg. Red glanced up and down his former co-ruler. What a pathetic mess. Bruised because he couldn't defend himself, broken bones because he wasn't strong, crying because of a weak mind, whimpering because he was scared. Red was trying to help him, trying to make him stronger. And possibly have some fun while doing it. Pur would thank him… At least he still hoped so.

"Red, if I could have my hover belt-" he took in a long, painful breath, pleading, "I would be able to move better, I swear-" Pur shrank into the wall, eyes growing ever wider and fearful as he watched Red's hand snap into position to hit him across the face, he whispered, "…please don't hit me, Red. Please…"

Red's even breathing was un-nerving, but his hand did not move from its position raised near his face. He stared at Purple for a full 10 seconds before lowering his hand, expression never changing. Purple jumped when Red spoke quietly.

"Pur, I won't hit you."

Disbelief ran across Purple's face as he relaxed the tiniest bit, "You… won't?"

"No."

Purple was perplexed, to say the least. He relaxed a little more, Red had never lied before. Never. Now he was getting closer. Red put an arm on either side of Purple, placing his hands against the wall. Purple had no where to shrink but into himself. Red's face came unsettlingly close to Purple's. Purple wasn't so relaxed anymore.

"I won't hit you, Pur. That's not imaginative enough coming from me. I can do better than just hit you, and you know that. Thank you for stopping me, obviously knowing I can do better." Red said, amused with himself. Purple fearfully looked into Red's eyes before fainting and falling to the floor. Red watched him slide down the wall, never moving. He looked down at the crumpled mess at his feet as he lightly pushed himself off of the wall.

"See? I told you I wouldn't hit you…" Red smirked. A small muted beep came from Red's pak.

"Oh dear… Looks like I have to go," He took a glace to either side of the hallway.

"We can't have you getting lost down here. I'll help you out here, okay? I know how much you're looking forward to out next session together, and I wouldn't want you getting overexcited! You might hurt yourself more than you have already," he said in mock kindness. He grabbed the rope that was lying near by from last time, and began to tie Purple's arms and legs together. Purple was regaining conscious to the feeling of ropes being tied around his arms and legs.

"R-red… please don't…" he tried to say, "I promise I won't go anywhere, you don't need to do thi-" He was cut off by a gag around his mouth. He tried to talk but all that came were muffled sounds. His eyes were filled with worry and tears as the red-eyed tallest put a blindfold over them.

"There. Now I don't need to worry about you going anywhere," he said in his quiet, level voice. He took one last look at the trembling shadow on the floor, and left.

* * *

Mixzzy


	2. Memories

The Color Red  
**_Chapter Two: Memories_**

Purple had to find a place to go. The only option he really had was his mind. Try as he might, the pain throbbing up and down his entire body would not subside. It was driving him insane. He kept waiting to become numb to it all, but it never happened. In the three weeks he had been down here, he still felt each blow as if it were the first. He attempted to concentrate on only his thoughts, whatever they were.

_The entirely violet infested room was currently occupied by none other than that same colored tallest. That same colored Tallest happened to be reading to clear his mind of troubling thoughts. He was pondering, barely registering the words his eyes were glazing over, why Red had recently been acting so strange. Red was becoming more and more interested in… darkness. That's the only way he could describe it. Red hardly liked lasers anymore, which is what first caught Purple's attention. He complained that it was too bright in the ship's hallways, so he kept himself in his room all day, and only came out when all the lights went out for the sleeping cycle. He would come into Purple's room, and talk about things he never used to take any interest in. Things like-_

There was a noise. Purple's antennae perked up. He was lying on his side, hands crudely tied behind his back. He quickly snapped back to his situation, his thoughts still in the front of his mind, the pain and memories vying for his attention. The ropes around his ankles were so taut, he couldn't feel his feet anymore, but a dull throbbing. He was almost glad for that, because it meant he couldn't feel the pain he knew ought to be there.

There it was again. He knew he heard something. His heart began to beat faster, which in turn caused him to breath more heavily. But it hurt too much to breath heavy, so he had to calm himself down. It was difficult for him to calm down, considering it was Red who was probably coming. He didn't want Red to come. Red meant pain. Red meant emotional pain. In later years, his subconscious would cringe at the sight of the color red. He tried to think of a happier moment, tried to think of something peaceful, but it only made it worse: he realized he couldn't think of a happier moment. What was wrong with him? What Irken in their right mind couldn't think of _one happy moment?_ Another realization hit him: maybe he wasn't in his right mind. Maybe he finally had gone crazy. But how could that be? He was the Almighty Tallest Purple, one of the few with violet eyes, one of the few to have met with Tallest Miyuki, one of the few… to have been kidnapped by his fellow Tallest. And with that thought, all hope of a happy one was vanquished from his mind.

_-killing off all of the native inhabitants instead of enslaving them. "But Red, then we wouldn't have any slaves to do our dirty work," Purple would try and argue. Red would look at him and just laugh. Red's laugh was slowly changing as well. It wasn't fun anymore. It was almost scary to hear Red laugh. Purple used to enjoy it when Red would give him surprise visits in his bedroom late at night. Now he hardly ever slept for the fear of him coming into his room. Purple tried to ask him why he was changing, and that's what led him-_

Purple lie as still as he could. He waited to hear another noise. _Maybe it was all in my head _he thought. No one was actually coming. _Maybe he'll totally forget about me. Maybe I'll starve to death down here, _he thought hopefully. But in what was left of his Pak, he knew it wasn't true. Red brought him down to here to "train him", as he so cruelly put it. More like torture Purple to insanity. Purple tried once more to get free of the ropes, but he couldn't. If he could have, he would have taken a deep breath, and hopefully fallen asleep.

-_here. _

* * *

Mixzzy


	3. Of Joorbe and Mixzzy

The Color Red  
_**Chapter Three: Of Joorbe and Mixzzy**_

Red slowly meandered his way back up into the ship's main corridors. He had to appear as though he were completely drained. He slowed his hovering further, slumped his shoulders, rubbed his eyes till they felt sore and looked irritated. In about five minutes the conceited, intimidating Red that Purple had come to know had completely disappeared and was replaced by a sad, pathetic looking duplicate. He must have put on a very convincing act, because the Council was talking about removing Red due to "emotional distress." They felt if Red couldn't handle the loss of Purple, how could he handle running the Empire? These thoughts ran through his head, fighting for attention against the thoughts of Purple down in the bowels of the ship.

_Ah, my Purple. I just wish you could understand that I'm helping you. __**Of course you're helping him. **__I know, I just wish he would understand that. _

Red would never admit to himself that the real reason he was doing this to his fellow Tallest was because he loved being a god over something. And not in the sense of, 'You will do as I say,' but in the way that he could distribute pain when he felt like it, he could control every single aspect of something's life. He had real power over Purple, and he'd never had that feeling before. He didn't want it to go away.

He reached his destination, took a deep breath, looked down, and went in.

"Sir! I'm glad you're here!" A small voice came from Red's left.

Red didn't even acknowledge the Irken to his side; he simply slumped into his commander chair, and kept looking at the floor.

"We think we may know where Tallest Purple is!"

Red instantly lost any sign of depression in favor of anger as he practically jumped out of his seat, "WHAT?!" His crew mistook it for happy surprise.

"We think he may be on Planet Joorbe, sir!" The small Irken beamed up at his outraged leader, who started nervously laughing, and relaxed back into his chair.

"Oh, oh. Well, keep looking for him! I'm sure you'll find him! Don't stop!" Red was overcome so with relief, he was really smiling the first real, happy smile in a long time. _That was close… __**They honestly have no idea, I wouldn't worry too much.**__ I know, but still… Wow, my heart is _still _racing. _

"Well, we think some rouge Joorbeians may have kidnapped him while on our last visit. It was around that same time when he went missing, sir." The Irken had walked back to his panel, and was quickly going over pictures, and information about the planet Joorbe. The pictures flashed across Red's eyes, reflecting off of them. He couldn't believe how off they were. And he also couldn't believe how long it took them to figure even that out. Even though they were so very far from the truth, the fact that it had taken them three weeks to figure out the piece of false information was enough to make Red a little aggravated.

"Why didn't you think of that earlier?" Red was going through the whole gamut of emotions. Now he was irritated.

"B-because, sir. You never told us to look there. You told us to look at planets Tallest Purple has probably never even heard of-" The Irken said, rolling his eyes as though he knew better than his leader. The others gasped. He had just committed the ultimate crime: he had insulted his leader's intelligence. Even though the leader he had insulted wasn't present, and hadn't been for the past three weeks, meant nothing. He looked fearfully up at Red, who didn't even seem to notice. Red had decided from the moment the little soldier opened his mouth he didn't really care what he had to say.

"Keep looking. I'm going to lie down now," Red said quietly, and slowly left the room, leaving the others feeling extremely relieved, and feeling a little sorry for their leader.

* * *

After making sure he was safely locked in his own bedroom, Red sighed loudly. This was going to get difficult. It was getting to point where he had to consider letting Purple go. But that would mean either erasing his memory, or… or killing him. Even though Red enjoyed causing Purple pain, he still loved him. Just not the same way most Irkens think of love. His was a different kind of love. But it was love none-the-less.

"How am I going to get out of this?" Red sank to floor, his Pak hitting an indent in the wall on the way down. He took no notice.

"Get out of what, sir?" a level, feminine voice said from the bathroom. Red jumped up, already a laser in his hand.

"Who's there? I have a gun!" Red swung the laser all around, looking for a target.

"Don't we all?" An Irken about half the size of the Tallest walked out of the bathroom. She had the standard invader uniform on, and had a bored, irritated look on her purple-eyed face.

"Mixzzy? You can't scare me like that!" Red instantly relaxed, sinking back to the floor, placing the gun next to him.

"Whoops, I suppose. And why are you having such a hard time dealing with Purple?"

"Wait…you know about Purple?" Red wouldn't know how ironic it was that he had the very same look on his face that longed for from Purple.

"Of course I do, stupid. I helped you kidnap him, remember?" She walked over to Red and sat down next to him. He gave her a puzzled look, and then remembrance spread across his face.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," after a pause, "I visited him today," he said quietly.

"Oh?" Mixzzy looked mildly interested… at the wall.

"Yeah. He was being uncooperative so I had to tie him down."

"I told you those ropes would come in handy."

"I know."

_A guard walked by. He heard Red talking.. He stopped and listened to the intercom on the outside of the door. Tallest Red must have accidentally hit the button. But that wouldn't explain why he was talking to himself. He paused for a few minutes, heard Red say, "I know." Then nothing. The guard, thoroughly confused by now, shook his head, and walked away, thinking nothing of it._

* * *

Mixzzy


	4. Delusion

The Color Red  
_**Chapter Four: Delusion**_

As Red slept semi-peacefully in his red adorned room, tossing occasionally, Purple was attempting to break free of his ropes. He had waited what the remains of his pak told him to be four passings, and Red had still not come. Although he dreaded a visit from Red, Red's coming would also mean food and liquid. Neither of which he had in awhile. Red's last visit brought no food, so Purple was running on a major energy depletion. He estimated he had little more than three days left… to live. If only, if only. Only three more days of this was something Purple could easily handle, but Red would be down, and he would nurse him back to some form of health, only to start the whole process over again.

Purple was exerting what energy he had left into convincing his muscles to move. Purple wondered if he would ever be able to move or feel his hands again. He kept wiggling his arms, and trying to worm his way out of the ropes. He couldn't tell if he was making any progress, he couldn't feel his hands. He hoped he was.

Can something please go my way for once? Even something as small at this…

He kept wiggling his arms until he felt a new sensation. Instead of the feeling of his shoulder blades being pushed together, he could move is shoulders forward! He did what he thought was the movement of putting one of his arms in front of him, and touched his face.

_I'm free… I'm free!_

Purple could feel the blood attempting to rush back into his hands, but he couldn't yet feel his hands. He tried to sit up, using his wrists more than his palms, and leaned against the wall, trying to comprehend what he had just done.

_I broke free! I can escape this hell that has been my life. I can tell the world what Red has done to me, I can… I can… I can't see. Why can't I see?_

Purple remembered about the blindfold and gag, and quickly removed them. He blinked as he noticed that not much had changed. Everything was still black. He still couldn't see anything. He sat still for awhile, just pleased to be in a different position from the one he tried to change four days ago. Then he remembered why he was blindfolded and gagged. He had escaped not four days before. Why didn't he remember that little piece of information? Had it been longer than the four days his pak told him? Round and round he went with himself. Was he insane yet, or not? Was all this in his head, or was it really the hell he believed it to be? He wouldn't know whether or not he really was insane unless he got back up to the main compartment of the Massive. But that would be so hard. The very reason this labyrinth was abandoned was because it was that… a never-ending maze of hallways and passages. And it was also the very reason Red brought him down here.

Well, he had to try. He had to. He was still an Almighty Tallest, no matter how thin and gaunt he may have appeared. No matter what Red told him. No matter how helplessly lost he might get. Purple knew it wouldn't work, but he had to try one more time. He closed his eyes, and mentally told his pak to send out a signal to main control room. He had tried this countless times before, but Red had damaged his pak almost beyond repair. Maybe that was the reason he was going insane?

_No. I am NOT going insane. I've stayed wonderfully sane these past few weeks. I don't know of any other Irken who could handle what I've been through._

And sick and twisted as it may be, he was almost proud of surviving this long. He sighed as he realized that no one would come, no one would be coming, and the only company he would have until the day he died (most likely at the hands of Red) was his Royal Highness, the Almighty Tallest Red. He almost laughed.

"The Almighty Tallest Red. Ha! If only they knew…" Purple whispered softly to himself.

_**Red….**_

Red rolled over, swatting away an imaginary insect.

_**Red.**_

Half awake, he mumbled something to the effect of, "Go away."

_**RED! Get up now, you moron! Purple is getting away!**_

Red sat straight up, almost instantaneously awake.

"What?"

_**Purple is getting away**__._

"Ha, that's impossible… Actually, I haven't gone down to see him in awhile, I wonder if he's still alive?"

_**He's alive… Trust me.**_

"You know I do, Mixzzy… you know I do…"

* * *

Mixzzy


	5. The Runaway

The Color Red  
**_Chapter Five: The Runaway_**

"Ha! Yes! I knew I could do it," Purple was never more happy for Irkens' quick healing than he was now. He was currently standing on the ankle that was broken less than two weeks ago. A little wobbly, but standing nonetheless.

"Dammit, if only I had some food." Purple said to himself as he leaned against the wall for support. He was slowly making his way down the dark hallway, keeping in constant touch with the wall not only for support, but to try and find a way out. He wondered if his eyes would ever adjust to the dark after _being_ in the dark for so long. He was basically walking blind. He hummed, fairly pleased to be moving of his own free will.

"If only I had a light now… At this point, I think I'd take a light over some food," Purple talked to himself, trying to make noise in an endless dark.

"Would you really?" an inquiring voice asked, as if truly curious about Purple's decision, somewhere in front of him.

Purple's breath instantly quickened, his eyes widened and he almost fell back from the sheer surprise and fear.

"R-red? … please let me be hearing things, please…" Purple pleaded to himself, hoping, no, begging for it not to be true, his eyes darting back and forth looking for some glimmer of movement.

"Purple, how long did you think you could stay unnoticed. Honestly, you thought you could actually try and get away? Even after I had the transmitters implanted?" Red scoffed.

Purple unconsciously touched his still healing, now maimed antennae.

_**FLASHBACK, a week ago (Red)**_

"_Red, no, please. I'll do anything, but please don't do this! Do anything else you want, but-RED NO!" Purple struggled hard against the ropes holding him to the wall in the darkness. He could see nothing as his eyes were blindfolded._

_Red grabbed one of Purple's antennae, then proceeded to bend it forward. He clicked the punch-gun a few times, managing to get a few worthwhile whimpers out of Purple._

"_Purple, you do realize if you sit still, this might hurt less." Red let go of the antennae, playing with Purple's fear of pain._

"_Red, I realize it might hurt less if you DON'T DO IT ALL!" Purple continued to waste his energy against his bonds. He would never know how much he would need it later._

"_Pur, I can't take the chance of you escaping. I need to know where you are at all times. Soon though, it won't matter. You won't have the energy or spirit to run away."_

_Red grabbed the same antennae as before, and ignoring Purple's cries and screams, took the gun and punched a small hole. Purple went sort of limp as Red did it, probably from shock. He was still crying and weakly struggling._

"_Purple, if you think that was bad, you have no clue. You'd better toughen up," pause, " Cause here comes the other one!" Red said rather happily. Purple roused himself enough to scream again right before he lost consciousness. Red shook his head as he finished the job, almost laughing. He stuck one transmitter in each bloody antenna, then wrapped them both up with bandages. He needed to make sure they healed properly or else Purple might be able to take them out. He untied Purple from the wall, and put him on the ground, stood back, and admired. He stood there long enough for Purple to come to._

_Purple moaned softly, face contorted into a pained, confused look. He reached a hand up to touch his very sensitive, now wounded, antennae. _

"_Purple, don't do that." Purple didn't stop._

"_Pur, I'm warning you… fine. I guess you like ropes, huh?" Red roughly hoisted Purple back onto the wall as he struggled in vain. Red tied the ones above his head holding his hands extra tight._

_**END**_

"Well, you hadn't been to… to see me in a long time, and…and…" Purple was trembling all over, using the wall more for mental support now.

"And?"

"…and….and I thought…"

"Go on, please."

"I thought I could run away from this hellhole once and for all!" Purple screamed at nothing. It was still pitch black. Then, as if right next to him,

"Oh really?"

Purple screamed and jumped, half falling, half walking into the wall on the other side of the corridor.

"Is that what you think this is? A 'hellhole'? I personally find this place… relaxing."

Purple could swear he could see the malicious glint in Red's eyes, though there was no light to reflect off of them.

"Of course you do… You're not the one who's been stuck down here for who knows how long…" Purple said more to himself than anything.

"I actually know _exactly_ how long you've been down here… And I plan on keeping you here longer," Red said almost casually.

"Red, please. Just let me go. I won't tell anybody, Red!" Purple took a breath to keep from pleading, then continued, "Red… you know that if you keep this up, there won't be much of me left to do anything with…"

"…"

"…there won't be much of me left to do anything with…"

That sentence struck Red more than anything Purple had said before. There won't be anything left. Did he mean physically? Surly not. Red had given him ample time to recover each time. Then he must mean-

**_Red, don't be getting all softy on me now. He's only trying to win you over. You've blocked it out for a while now, you ought to be used to it. And anyways, you've had fun listening to his constant pleading. I don't know why, but you have, and we both know it. Just think of this as another game we play with him._**

"But, Mixzzy. He said there won't be anything else… Mixzzy… I-"

_**You what? YOU WHAT?**_

"…I-I want… I want to let him-"

**_Don't even think it! Red, you've gone in too far to let him go now. You've either got to keep it up, or kill him. I could do it for you, you know._**

"… you're right, of course. But I don't want to kill him."

Purple listened for Red to respond with either a physical comeback, or something to scare him into shutting up.

"…but I don't want to kill him."

Purple didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified that there was more to come. Red was quiet for a while.

"…Pur?"

A very hesitant, scared, "…y-yes, Red?"

"Do you remember that room where the transmitters were implanted?"

"Red…" a few quick breaths, "Red, no. I'm not going anywhere."

"Purple, who the _hell _do you think you're kidding?" Red was suddenly very close to Purple, and very angry.

"Red," Purple said, gaining confidence, "I said, 'I'm not going anywhere!'" Although Purple hadn't stood up to his full height in a very long time, he was not quick to forget that he too was chosen as Almighty Tallest. His height was the only that rivaled Red's.

"Pur, come on. Stop playing Mr. Brave and get back to cowering… It suits you much better," Red said. He was carrying a flashlight that Purple had of course not seen, given the darkness of the hallway. He played with the idea of just hitting Purple with it, but decided to save that for later. He clicked it on.

"AH!" Purple's eyes couldn't take the sudden flood of light. His eyes hadn't been able to adjust to the simple dark, how could they be expected to handle this?

"Still want that light over the food?" Red laughed at Purple's sudden attack of surprise. Purple was squeezing his eyes shut. He had fallen to the floor and was slowly crawling backwards, keeping a hand in front of his face in an attempt to the light from his super-sensitive eyes.

"Red stop! Stop it!"

"Pur, maybe someday you'll realize that, while I enjoy it, pleading isn't going to accomplish anything."

"Red, maybe someday _you'll_ realize that keeping me down here won't accomplish anything!" Purple had switched directions and with his eyes still closed. Attempted to run Red over.

"Pur, please," Red easily side-stepped out of the way, keeping the blinding light on Purple the entire time. Purple crashed to the floor, crying out as he landed on his wrist. Red calmly walked over, and still keeping the light on Purple's face, knelt beside the whimpering Tallest.

"That's better. And you didn't answer me," Red touched Purple's agonized face as the purple tallest tried to pull away, "You still want a light?"

Purple continued to try and pull away. Red clicked the flashlight off, leaving Purple in equally blinding darkness. All he could hear was his own heart pounding.

"Here you go!" Red swung the flashlight down hard, having it collide with Purple's head in a muted thud. Red then kicked Purple into the wall, where he slid to the floor unconscious.

"Pur…" Red said, looking almost lovingly at Purple's relaxed face, "If only you knew how much I'd like to run away with you…"

_**Red, if only **_**you**_** knew how delusional you really are.**_

"Mixzzy, please. Not now"

**_You need to take him to that room before he wakes up._**

A sigh.

"I know."

**_You realize the offer to kill him is still up._**

"…I know."

* * *

Mixzzy


	6. Secret Secrets

_The Color Red_  
Chapter 6: Secret secrets

Mixzzy walked beside Red as he carried the unconscious Purple down a pitch-black hallway. Red carried him like he would an oversized, extremely malnourished child. Purple's arms were folded crookedly on his bare, scraped chest. The only sounds were the occasional moan from Purple, and the machine-like steadiness of Red's footsteps. He didn't have time to put on his hover belt when he rushed down to the deserted hallways to stop Purple from escaping. Red appeared to be talking to himself.

"Red, why are you starting to have doubts now? You were more than ready for this when it started, but now you've… you've digressed back to your old, pathetic, emotion-based self. Tell me why." If someone was there to watch this 'conversation' take place, it might appear that Mixzzy was really not interested in Red's response at all, but was merely trying to keep him calm. But there was no one to look in on Red's or Purple's situation, and even if there had been, they might not have seen Mixzzy in the first place.

"Mixzzy, I don't know… I just don't know anymore. What did he mean when he said there wouldn't be anything left? You know, of all the things he's said, screamed, cried, that's the one that's bothered me. And I can't figure out why…" Red talked quietly and timidly, very unlike his usual self.

"Red. Please." Irritated.

"I'm sorry…"

"Hey, I have a fun idea that'll cheer you up."

"…oh?" Doubt from Red.

"Have you ever tried getting into his dreams?"

Red stopped. Purple gave an irritated whine, like that of a sleeping child whose nice dream has just been ruined, and leaned into Red unconsciously looking for protection. Red looked down at Purple's calm, slightly bruised face and tried, really tried to keep tears from coming. He would not cry in front of Mixzzy. He would _not._

"Red, you haven't answered me."

"…." Red continued to look down at Purple's face, remembering when they used to love each other. Now that was all gone.

_**Memory (Red)  
**_"_Purple?"_

"_Yes, Red?" Purple didn't even look up from the book he was reading. He was sitting facing his suite's oversized window that gave a dramatic view into vast darkness, dotted only with small but brightly glowing spots._

"…_um, can an Irken get sick…uh, in his head, let's say?" Red sounded very nervous asking from the behind Purple's chair. Purple put the book he was reading down on his lap, and answered looking out the window into space._

"_What do you mean? Like a mental illness?"_

"_Yeah. Like that. Where they might start to see things…" He basically mumbled the last part._

"_Hmmm… There hasn't been a case of mental illness in an Irken for quite some time. I'm pretty sure the Control Brains developed a small chip long ago that is implanted into every smeet's pak for just that reason. But I could be wrong…" Purple chuckled to himself. It hardly ever happened that Purple was wrong. Red didn't laugh, however. Purple turned around and looked up to see Red's worried face looking back at him. _Something_ was wrong. _

"_Red, do you think you have a…a mental illness?"_

_Red broke down._

"_Pur, I don't know!" -gasp- "I'm scared! I keep see-" -sniffle- "seeing things…" Red just stood there crying quietly, trying to retain some of his pride. It seemed he had had this bottled up for a while. Purple was shocked for the first few seconds, just looking at Red with a blank face. He then got up from his chair, and went to hold him. It seemed that's exactly what Red needed._

"_Red, I can safely say that you probably do _not_ have a mental illness of any kind, but if it would make you feel better, we can go get it checked out. You know, make sure your chip isn't loose or anything," Purple spoke gently, just holding Red protectively._

"_I don't know… What if word got out that I might be… might be cra-" Red couldn't finish. His tears were finally slowing._

"_Well, if it got fixed, there would be no proof. And you do know that if word _does_ get out, we can execute the entire medical staff that was in that day. I hate to do that, but it's what keeps our secrets secret…"  
__**End**_

"Red! Stop it now! I know what you're doing… I should have erased all that from you when I had the chance. Stupid of me, really," Mixzzy reasoned with herself.

"But… I like those memories."

"Yes, but they make you weak."

"I suppose you're right," Red looked down on Purple once more. Purple was the only Irken Red knew of that could sport bruises and scrapes so well.

Purple stirred once more, letting out a soft groan. Red stopped walking. The fun of this game had worn off. He wanted to go back to the way things were. There was a time when Red used to imagine having complete power over another living creature, used to wonder what it would be like to be god day in and day out. Mixzzy had helped him fulfill this fantasy, but the glisten of it had disappeared. He found himself truly missing the bond he used to have with Purple.

"Mixzzy, no. You're not right. I'm done with this."

"Red, please. You can't be done with this. You started it, you have to finish it. What, are you going to just leave him here and forget any of this ever happened?"

"I'll… I'll erase his memory," Red was talking to himself more than Mixzzy.

"That's no fun, Red. Come on! Where'd your adventurous side go?" Mixzzy sounded genuinely disappointed.

Purple was waking up, and Red had to make a decision. Would he let Purple go? Would he kill him? Would he erase all his memories, and force him to walk the rest of his days with no knowledge of who he really was?

"Red, Purple is waking up," Mixzzy said in a sing-song voice.

"I know, Mixzzy."

* * *

-_Mixzzy_


	7. An adoption

Ok, readers. My life has gotten too busy and complicated for me to sit down and give this time it needs to have a satisfying ending. I need your help. If you would like to "adopt" this story, please let me know. I will still have the ultimate say about how it ends, but quite honestly I just don't have time for it anymore. It needs to be finished though! If you think you've got an amazing ending for this story, send me a small sample and I'll pick the one I feel is best for the story.

I'm sorry I can't finish it myself. :(

-Mixzzy


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